Door latch



F. .D. GRUND Sept; 9, 1930.

DOOR LATbH Filed July 1, 1929 amnion 7 III I u kmm ummw Patented Sept. 9, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE FLETCHER D. GRUND, F WESTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SWISS COM- PANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO DOOR LATCH Application filed July 1, 1929.

1 more particularly to latches for use on automobile doors, and an object of the invention is to provide a simple and eflicient door latch which is sturdy in construction, reliable in operation, and has the new and improved features of construction, arrangement and assembly hereinafter described.

The invention is shown by way-of illus tration in the accompanying drawings, in wh1ch:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the door latch;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view showing the manner in which the strap and bolt parts are assembled.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a door latch having aback plate 1 provided with an outwardly extending flange having an opening through which the head 3 of a latch bolt 4 extends. A headed pin or rivet 5 having its shank disposed in an elongate slot 6 in the back plate 1 guides the movement of the latch bolt. For normally holding the latch bolt in latching position a spiral spring 7 has one end anchored to the back plate 8, and the opposite end 9 bears against the outer end of the latch bolt.

For retracting the latch bolt from the outside of the door a roll back assembly 10 is provided, and consists of a cover plate 11 and a roll back 12, which is provided with a squared opening 13 to receive a handle shaft. It will be obvious that by clockwise movement (Fig. 1) of the roll back 12 the latch bolt may be r tracted. Projecting from the hub of the rol back 12 is an extension 14, which, as will hereinafter appear, may be blocked in order to dog the roll back, thereby preventing retracting the outside of the door.

-For retracting the latch bolt from the inside of the door a strap 15 is provided and may be connected in a suitable manner to a remote control mechanism (not shown) disposed in spaced relation to the latch unit.

The strap 15 is formed with a longitudinally elongate slot 16, which terminates in an enlarged opening 17 in th= end thereof away from the roll back 12. The strap is held in of the latch bolt from Serial No. 375,258.

relation to the latch bolt 4 by a headed pin or rivet 18, the shank of which is disposed normally in the slot 16. The inner end of the strap 15 is" turned downwardly to provide a lip extension 19',- which is positioned intermediate the roll back 12 and latch bolt 4,.

In order to dog the roll back 12 the strap 15 is moved longitudinally to the left (Fig. 1) in order to position the lip extension 19 directly ,beneath the roll back extension 14,

thereby blocking the movement of the roll back and preventing retracting of the bolt from the outside of the door. In order to re tract the latch bolt from the inside of the door the strap 15 is moved longitudinally to the right (Fig. 1) so that t-h'e lip extension 19 engages the edge of the latch bolt, and upon further movementit will be apparent that the latch bolt may be withdrawn. In this position of the lip extension 19 the inner end of the slot 16 may engage the shank of the headed pin 18, thereby to provide additional engaging means to assist in the retraction of the bolt. i

As is apparent from Fig. 1, a portion of the strap overlies the bolt engaging end 9 of the spiral spring 7, and serves as a keeper to retain this end in. bolt engaging position. It will thus be seen that the strap 15 not only serves to dog the roll back and retract the bolt, but also provides means for retaining the bolt engaging end of the spring in the proper position.

The strap may be readily and conveniently connected to the latch bolt in the following manner. The latch bolt 4 is first retracted, as indicated in Fig. 3, and thereafter the enlarged opening 17 of the strap 15 is slipped over the head of the pin 18 with the strap inclined atan angle to the back plate 1. Thereafter, the bolt is released and the strap is tipped to position the same in a plane substantiall parallel with the back plate, the'shank 0 the pin 18 sliding in the slot 16, and the lip extension 19 assuming its proper position intermediate the roll back i 12 and latch bolt. It-is preferable that the back plate 1 be relatively narrowin order {)0 facilitate the assembly of the strap and olt.

From the abovedescription it is manifest that this latch is relatively inexpenslve to manufacture, but is sturdy and substantial.

in construction. The ease in which the parts may be assembled admirably adapts it for commercial manufacture. The provision of a single element, which serves to dog the roll back and retract the bolt is an important feature, as it provides an extremely simple and desirable construction which not only provides a compact arrangement, but also reduces the cost of manufacture.

It is to be understood that the above description is given by way of illustration and not of limitation, and numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A door latch comprising a back plate, a latch bolt movable over said back plate, spring means urging said latch bolt to latchmg position, a roll back for retracting said' latch bolt, an abutment associated with said roll back, a strap longitudinally movable in the direction of movement of said bolt, a lost motion connection between said strap and bolt permitting movement of said strap in non-bolt retracting direction when said bolt is in projected or latching position, and a lip integral with the end of said strap movable into position for engagement by said abutment when said strap is moved in said nonbolt retracting direction, thereby to prevent operative movement of said roll back, said element being operatively engageable with said bolt when said strap is moved to retract said bolt.

2. A door latch comprising a back plate, a latch bolt movable over said back plate, spring means urging said latch bolt to latching position, a roll back for retracting said latch bolt, an abutment movable with said roll back, a bolt-retracting strap longitudinally movable in the directionof movement of said bolt, said strap being movable in nonbolt retracting direction when said bolt is in projected or latching position, and a member on the end portion of said strap movable into position for engagement by said abutment when said strap is moved in said non-bolt retracting direction thereby to block movement of said roll back, said member also operatively engaging said bolt when said strap is moved to retract said bolt.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed by name to this specification.

FLETCHER D. GRUND. 

